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Chapter 7: System Mastery

ShellLite is designed for automation. It gives you deep control over your files, desktop, and system operations.

1. File System

Reading and writing files is incredibly simple, using natural language.

Writing Files

write "Hello World" to file "log.txt"

Note: This overwrites the file.

Appending to Files

append "New Entry\n" to file "log.txt"

Adds to the end of the file.

Reading Files

content = read file "log.txt"
say content

File Operations

Operation Syntax Description
Write write "text" to file "path" Create/overwrite file
Append append "text" to file "path" Add to end of file
Read read file "path" Read file contents
Exists exists("path") Check if file exists
Delete delete("path") Remove a file
Copy copy("src", "dest") Copy a file
Rename rename("old", "new") Rename/move a file
List listdir("path") List directory contents
Create Dir mkdir("path") Create directory

Working with Paths

# Check if file exists before reading
if exists("config.txt")
    config = read file "config.txt"
    say config
else
    say in red "Config file not found!"

# List all files in a directory
files = listdir("./documents")
for file in files
    say file

# Create nested directories
mkdir("data/backups/2024")

Regex Matching

You can search file contents easily with regular expressions.

content = read file "server.log"

if content matches /Error/
    say "Found an error in the log!"

if content matches /\d{3}-\d{4}/
    say "Found a phone number pattern!"

2. Desktop Automation

ShellLite can control your mouse and keyboard, allowing you to automate repetitive tasks.

Note: Desktop automation requires optional dependencies: pip install keyboard mouse pyperclip plyer

Keyboard

# Type text
type "Hello, World!"

# Press special keys
press "enter"
press "tab"
press "escape"

# Key combinations
press "ctrl+c"
press "ctrl+v"
press "alt+tab"

Mouse

# Click at coordinates
click at 100, 200

# Move mouse
move to 500, 300

Coordinates are X, Y pixels from the top-left of the screen.

Clipboard

# Copy to clipboard
copy "Important Data" to clipboard

# Paste from clipboard
text = paste from clipboard
say text

System Notifications

Send native desktop notifications.

notify "Title" "Message body here"
notify "Backup Complete" "Your files have been saved."

3. Asynchronous Tasks (Concurrency)

If you have a slow task (like downloading a large file), you don't want to freeze your whole program. Use spawn to run it in the background.

Basic Async Pattern

to download_large_file
    wait for 5 seconds
    give "Download Complete"

# Run in background
task = spawn download_large_file

say "Doing other work while downloading..."

# Wait for result when you need it
result = await task
say result

Multiple Concurrent Tasks

to fetch_user id
    wait for 2 seconds
    give "User " + str(id)

# Start multiple tasks
task1 = spawn fetch_user 1
task2 = spawn fetch_user 2
task3 = spawn fetch_user 3

say "All tasks started..."

# Wait for all results
user1 = await task1
user2 = await task2
user3 = await task3

say user1
say user2
say user3

Async Keywords

Keyword Description
spawn Start a function in the background
await Wait for a spawned task to complete

4. Scheduled Tasks

Run code at specific intervals.

# Run every minute
every 1 minute
    say "Checking for updates..."
    check_for_updates()

# Run every few seconds
every 30 seconds
    say "Heartbeat"

5. Downloading Files

You can download files directly from the web.

download "https://example.com/image.png"
download "https://example.com/data.zip"

Download with Progress

# For large files, use The Bridge
use "requests"

response = requests.get("https://example.com/large-file.zip", stream=true)
with open("large-file.zip", "wb") as f
    for chunk in response.iter_content(chunk_size=8192)
        f.write(chunk)
say "Download complete!"

6. Compressing and Extracting

Manage .zip and other archive files.

# Compress a folder
compress "my_folder" to "backup.zip"

# Extract an archive
extract "backup.zip"
extract "backup.zip" to "destination_folder"

Advanced Compression

# Compress multiple items
compress ["file1.txt", "file2.txt", "folder1"] to "archive.zip"

# Extract specific files
# (Use The Bridge for advanced options)
use "zipfile"

7. Running System Commands

Execute shell commands from ShellLite.

# Run a command
run "dir"
execute "ls -la"

# Capture output
output = run "git status"
say output

Security Warning: Be careful when running system commands, especially with user input. Always validate and sanitize inputs.

8. Environment Variables

Access system environment variables.

# Using The Bridge
use "os"

# Get an environment variable
home = os.environ.get("HOME")
path = os.environ.get("PATH")

say "Home: " + home

9. Process Management

Control external processes.

use "subprocess"

# Run and wait for completion
result = subprocess.run(["python", "--version"], capture_output=true)
say result.stdout

# Run in background (non-blocking)
process = subprocess.Popen(["long_running_script.py"])
# Continue with other work...
process.wait()  # Wait when needed

10. System Information

Get information about the system.

use "platform"
use "os"

say "OS: " + platform.system()
say "Version: " + platform.version()
say "Machine: " + platform.machine()
say "Processor: " + platform.processor()
say "CPU Count: " + str(os.cpu_count())

11. Progress Indicators

Show progress for long operations.

# Simple progress
items = range(100)
for i in items
    # Process item
    progress i, 100  # Show progress bar

say "Complete!"

12. Practical Examples

Backup Script

to backup_files source_dir, backup_name
    # Create timestamp
    use "datetime"
    timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d_%H%M%S")
    backup_file = backup_name + "_" + timestamp + ".zip"
    
    # Compress
    compress source_dir to backup_file
    say in green "Backup created: " + backup_file

backup_files "documents", "my_backup"

File Watcher

to watch_folder folder_path
    use "os"
    last_files = listdir(folder_path)
    
    forever
        wait for 5 seconds
        current_files = listdir(folder_path)
        
        # Check for new files
        for file in current_files
            if not contains(last_files, file)
                say in green "New file: " + file
                notify "New File" file + " was added"
        
        # Check for deleted files
        for file in last_files
            if not contains(current_files, file)
                say in red "Deleted: " + file
        
        last_files = current_files

watch_folder "./downloads"

Automated Report Generator

to generate_report
    # Gather data
    use "datetime"
    now = datetime.datetime.now()
    
    report = "# Daily Report\n"
    report += "Generated: " + str(now) + "\n\n"
    
    # Add system info
    use "platform"
    report += "## System Info\n"
    report += "- OS: " + platform.system() + "\n"
    report += "- Machine: " + platform.machine() + "\n\n"
    
    # Add custom data
    report += "## Status\n"
    report += "- All systems operational\n"
    
    # Save report
    filename = "report_" + now.strftime("%Y%m%d") + ".md"
    write report to file filename
    say in green "Report saved: " + filename

generate_report()

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